The Lowdown on Devils Peak 8081

Starting on Slate Pass

I had planned to climb Mount Rolo on day one, and then spend the night near Robinson Pass. Then on day two, we would climb Devils Peak returning to Slate Pass. But I noticed that the map showed 478A trail junction in proximity to Slate Pass. So I decided we’d get a better night sleep back at the car in between the day trips.

Once again, we hiked back down to the head of the Middle Fork Pasayten River Valley. And right away, I noticed Devils Peak looming near the head of Robinson Creek Valley. Trail 478A turnoff took me some time to find since the reported cairn was missing. When I finally located it, the rest of the hike to Robinson Creek Trail (#478) junction was a breeze.

Heading for Devils Peak South Slopes

We left the trail by the Robinson Creek Trail and then scrambled uphill in light brush and down trees. Just as we climbed toward the 6400′ bench, the sudden wolf howling in the distant west had us on edge. But then the sound began to fade as we moved farther south. We continued to travel south from the larch meadow. Our goal was to get up to the southwest-trending buttress coming off of Devils Peak’s west ridge.

Somehow we got ourselves into a short section of waist-high, dense shrubs. Lots of larches strewed these steep slopes, and many of them had already turned the vibrant gold color. Just past the larches was the buttress as mentioned earlier, which we bypassed at 7000′ on loose choss.

On the other side of the buttress was the large talus field that I saw earlier from the trail. As it turned out, getting to the 7400′ notch on the other side of the talus took forever. Glad nothing moved as we hopped through the massive boulder field. The access point gave us our first look at the steep gully entrance. It also gave us beautiful views to the misty Robinson Creek Valley with cascading ridges.

There was more choss to get through before we got up to the access gully. In it, there was nothing but more loose rocks. The pup and I took turns to get up this section, as to avoid being hit by falling rocks. Things looked much better when we finally passed this point. We finished the last bit of scramble to the summit ridge on better rocks and solid ledges.

Devils Peak Summit Plus Outro

A short ridge traverse finally put us on the summit. Right then, it began to drizzle. Low hanging clouds obscured landscapes to the north, including Mount Rolo from the day before. However, views were much better in all the other directions. The majestic Robinson Mountain was practically in our face.

Fearing the weather would worsen, we left the summit after a short stay. The sky had cleared up a little when we got back down to the access notch. Then the sun came out again back at the larch meadow. From the trail, we reversed the route and hiked back to Slate Pass in an afternoon full of sunshine.